Western Sun, Volume 8, Number 25, Vincennes, Knox County, 24 May 1817 — Page 2

T Benjm. Stevenson LntC l !ck;; itc in congress from the Ills to i icy. now in lC humble sta ion ol K ceiver of public monies for the dist. of E wardsvi.ie. 8ir Raving rend vonr address to nlr. CHartesa bearing date the 1 5th nit w tertfal von insinuate that certain char pr- exhibited tgminst yon ware publish ed by mn, I will for the first time in my lif make HSC of Newspaper to declare tat (four Insinuation is incorrect a malicious calumny" an u unblushing fcahe' ood " T--is uncereraonlous lanuacje sir, only returns four assault if under the erronious impression t tat I had attacked tour reputation be it what it may, vou Bad not departed very repeatedly, from that cairn soi-ir nf ( m cous rcctitu le Sc dignity w (ch outhtto prevail in a'1 discussions, neither you nor vour f-i?nds would complain wnen I descend to the Game form of expression. Still I feel no disposition to imitate, you fn this for I have during a long course of public service su! red too much by private and public sian.lcv, nd have discovered liirou jhout vour address such disregard ot nf ir cv towards wl at vou imagined liu feelings were, an 1 such indifference to t. e justice and pertinency of some of yon; "narks, that after this introduction I hope I shall in all I may saw avoid the example ' recollect reading the piece that seems to have rousel you from your retirement but really I do not recollect the ttatement relative to vour servant which yon say is fuse and t eat you can prove it to be so by 4 hundreds" of pe-sons v o serve l with you. Be that as it may I will scitc vou a case, which perhaps sir you will recollect and acknowledge &c v ither you do or not, I will acknowledge on my part, that the government Sustained no i liury ; tho1 in my opinion, it certainly would had I not detected the a tempt T ,e c as- is t i-, You mustered a black man as soldier in a com pan v of n;iiti. :omrnand I by capt Amos S"uhc, in the (all of 1813 he received his n iv with the rest of the company A lew days after the company had been p td vou attended to draw vours, and 6 i timed pvy for & private servant on invt sm r itin r this c! aim, you described t' e blackimn mustere ! on c pt Souires R 1 to have been employed in that capacity and ny recollecting to have p id the nan as he was mustered prevented liie i om paying you t ie compensation of a private servant on his account T.j us it is sir n.id neither your say so bor hundreds of witnesses can prove this ease false " I will now sir, inform you aad all concerned with you, that I never exhibit diaries for crimes or misdemeanors in an indirect way h is you have unexpeee Hy roused me from my M peaceful re tirement' where I faithfully attend to the duties of ray office, and endeavor to act In i manner inoffcusive to any and satisfactory to a.11" so far as I have the means and the power, I Will venture before I drop vou, to ask a few questions k vou have my pc'rnvssion to convert or con strue them into any amusement your k nrs and retirement m dictate Vv len you co nmnced your political career the Idin is territory, were vou Hot an officer of high rank in the mi.itia appointe l l le c imp to his excellency the governor briga le m jor k inspector ol the troops that were under nis excellency's co n n aid or rather those he claimed the honor of commanding in the years isr: k 13? Under these high atid honorable appointments did vou, or did you not ii utmy instances, place your official signature to muster roits of eorunanies and detachments of men sod horses wiich rolis were false and pre ju licial t the government of tiic United Mae-: iVi 1 vou. or lid yott not, place jTOUr official simtu to t ie muster rolls o companies and detachments where there was men w . were mustered on two, and som -u net t nee different rolls for the same period T tese sir, are only a few kerns buttbey may serve you T icy emb ac serious ch ir res a ndns an imcer of your hi 5 1 standing, smd dep 1 irni St, if you deny, my evidence s iaU substantiate the a You would i . -jw h fovermm H by ;rivin 5 men double k treble if perfectly inattentive 01 Careless of your duty ; while vou won have the m lenity to complain of me, although it t tame time I wis doi ig a1' I could with the hn Is m my hands an I 1 tborin r without intei mission Bui this is no; all you i'avc yet to learn it tuns, tnat the rules and articles of war

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for the government of the U. States, dene that am officer who shall be conicted of having made a false muster of man or horse, or mustering a man or aofse t.iat is not in the actual service of Lhc U S tales, snail be cashiered, and r ndr-red incuiablc of holding any office if pr.fi , or ftaftof under the guvt rnment of the U State. After this sir and a few general remarks on the different publications made in mr Charless's paper, it may he time to close. When you first commenced your political race in the territory you reside in, I am not aware that you had any desire to injure, or unjustly impeach the reputation of any man who did not stand in your way. Your thirst to be a great man, however, soon become so powerful that vou seemed to have almost lost m siiit in your electioneering put suits of all moral honesty 'Twas about that time, owing to a deficiency of funds the pay of the militia- and 1 angers become a popular theme or hobby, for demago.'ues. You cau&ht and dashed amongsl them without knowing whither their claims individually, were just or not. Vou appeated to offer your assistance xX sanguine expectations to ail and it would appear mat you persevered in this uiuii you had promised far more than could possibly be realised under the then existing circumstances Ween the people bcan to tind teat yon had deceived them, I may suppose your situation to have become truly diss tieabie. To prevent the storm of i. f iriated disappointment from failing on your own head and the head of your high territorial dignitary you and he. as worthy friends and partners, met to consult what was best to be do.e ! Instead of telling the people the true causes Why their pay was delayed, or any thing like it, you prepared an address to the secretary of war tins address, hastily drew from him a letter censuring me, and a monument of self-extracted praise for you and your compeer. T..is monument it appears you sun keep, for the eternal b lie fit ot yourself and friend posted inthe public newspapers as the testimonials of your patrio tim honor, honesty and v, .cat zcai to svi ve toe pcopie. Yet this monument of yours, it it prove any thing, will oniy shew how hard his fate was wi.o had to please hot 11 t..c government and t.ie people It wouid clearly appear that you merit credit for your seal yet how and why, and w erefore ? As I nave stated)

your O'hci il conduct WOUid, h blunders been detected, ave nm nor v on r injured the government materially, when tunds were not sufficient for t .ose to Whom pay was just;y due Stiil 'twas 1, wl o was instructed M to guard by ail possible means a ;a:ast impostors and fraudulent and unjust claims, however specious the form in which they approached me,"' I, w,o done my duty so far as had means, ability and judgment, and who dare not, nor did not vary one ioto from my instructioas twas I who must according to this shewing, near all blame ! Why ? Is it because I did not hum-bug or deceive the people, and then attempt to impose upon the government ? Is t-us so ? Let the documents accompanying this letter speak in reply to that, and to your hoarded monument they are to the point. I am not of opinion that your u interfering and meddling ignorance" has procrastinated the payment of the troops indeed I am far from thinking so -and if vou wish to know what I do think; I will assure your 1 excellent' friend and you. that ail t ie iHedddng in the case, had n effect either one way or the other, in the payment of the troops committed to my charge. Nor can you sir, to sustain your declarations, obtain the sanction of the secretary of war, or paymaster general, that vour airencv has had any effect in exWW 4 - pediting the payment of troops In that territory. 1 ne fact is, it was out of your power, except otic company near the aihe, whose claima, never came to my hands The troops in that territory iffould have been paid just as soon, and lust as they were paid, if you had staid at enc a d never opened your mouth upn the subject. You say, t at M I have scandalously amsedthe Ilimois militia in my letters to t paymaster jneral.1 'his again is icorrect I have never written respectin ;t tern, but wit a truth I have endeaourcd to describe them as they really ire and unfortunately, I ha e had to describe yourself witti them. Y mr sham pretext for having applied to the secretary of war to tke the money nr. of my hands is not e xtraordinary Although it is Inconsistent with the pretensions to knowledge you express upon

the subject, it very well accords with some of your old electioneering tales If you ready knew any thing respecting the matter at the time you made the application, you must have known that 1 was retainea for the special purpose of c losing the business within my distric t If you say you oid not know this then you could not have seen or known any thing respecting the regulations made at the time the army w.,s reduced and if you were ignorant of them regulations, you could not have known whither I would be retained or r.ot. This is a curious contradiction to your pretext but ict us try it another way did you not know that I could not be out of service until I distributed the very large sums of money you ha-.t stated to the peopie I held in my hands to pay them r or did you think the government might procrastinate payment and send me adrift with these large sums vou had stated to be in my possession me of whom you entertained such groundless suspicions ? or did vou or did u not merely desire to get this money into your possession that yon and your friend might derive some Utile advantage bv turning: it into goods and making payments in that way? If you will answer the last query in the affirmative, then can the people duly appreciate your" disinterested zral and whither you do or do r.ot the pretext vou offered was a very silly one, indeed sir, I oniy hope it may be placed to ti e proper account by those who know us both, and wi.o may know your conduct, situation and circumstances. Your own previous reports that a sufficient sum of money had been placed In my hands to pay nil claims in both territories arc sufficient to condemn you When circumstances are viewed. However sir, if vou wish to sec; niv letters To the paymaster general published, you have my consent to obtain them and then, after ail your contemptible workings, twistings and endeavorings, to incense the peopie of Illinois against me, I will leave it to themselves to judge us both, and to judge tvho has 1 ir iy and impartially adjusted their accounts and obtained their pay and who has, and who has not performed ins duty Uprightly and faithfully. I am now done with you until my conduct can be investigated before a proper tribunal of the time and place, yourself and friend shall be duly notified. A. WHITLOCK. Vincennes, May 12, 1317. Mr. Stow You win please to publish the two following documents wiih toe above, all for the exclusive benefit of Mr. Benjamin Stephenson, iate a Delegate in Congress from the Illinois territory, and row in the humble situ ition of Receiver of Public Moni sat Eciwardville. r. Char'ess,at St. Louis, will p. ease insert them for the same purpose, A. W. The navmaster general has read with

attention the letter addressed to the se cretary of war by niaj. Whitlock, District paymaster, dated the 16th of October last, which has been referred to him. and he has now the honor of reporting, j that niaj. Whitlock, as wen as all other j district paymasters were called upon by j the paymaster general, by a circular let ter addressed to them respectively, to furnish estimates of out standing claims within each of their districts so far as it Could be ascertained ; that in consequence thereof niaj. Whitiock furnished an estimate dated the 26tn July, 18 15 which was received on the 10th of August thereafter; this estimates the amount as "wanting to par the different discription of troops for services said to have been performed in the actual service of the U. -dates" within his district as amounting to 8233,960 and 50 cents. The paymaster general further reports, that after the appropriations were made for the payment of arrears due the army, and arrangements had been made relative to the paymasters who should be retained to perform that duty a c ircular was addressed to each, a copy of which accompanies this report, marked A. Re nittances were commenced to maj. Whitlock on the 9th of February, 1816 a copy of the letter making this remittance is herewith inclosed, marked and the remittances were continued from time to time, as ti e paymaster general was (unilshed funds as below stated, regarding in the remittances lie made the calls of other districts, and the funds periodically placed in his hands bv the government. 1816, on the 9th February as above stated 20 000 22 1 March, remitted 5rnoo S2d August, ditto 150000 21st Nov. ditto 60,000

In addition to which major Whitiock w as authorised to draw on the 26th, October, 1826, for l5,U00

8295,000 Subsequent estimates were made after tiiat of the 26th July, 18 1a embracing other troops and cads tor further sums than those in the estimate before mentioned ; these additional estimates in detached parts, caused some perplexity and difficulty in the remittances to be made tiie paymaster general had his eye cl iefly turned to the first estimate of $233,950, and on which document 1 e had referrence in the estimate furnished the secretary of war as the probable sum it would require to pay the arrears cue toe several discription oi troops in the actual service of the V states on which the appropriation was made Ti e paymaster general admits that l is instructions to maj Whitiock were in the first instance to pay oil' disci. urged" rangers, and that from the letters oi that gentiemui , i e stated the causes ofde ay proceeded from the circumstance ol his not being mo:e amply supplied with luncis, so that when he commenced his payments, he might be able promptly to execute that cuty for without having funds at once to make his full paym- nts, it caused much dissatisfaction to those who w ere left unpaid ui:tii furtner supplies w c re funds; cd. A.t..o' the paymaster general, so far as it has been w it. in his power and in conformity to ! is letter i eretofoie referred to marked A has furnished turds ficm time to time as he has been supplied, to maj. Whitiock, yet he perceives from the calls of each claimant to be paid at t. e same time, together with the irregu larity and informal manner in winch the roils w ere in many instances fun isi.cv. to paymastei Whitiock as he tas often stated, that this officer has sufle;ed much difficulty and perp.exity inti.e discharge of Ids c.uty ; that liom the opportunities the paymaster general has had of knowing his general conduct in the discharge of his duties, he would co him inju ti e to conclude this report without an expression of his opL ion, that no paymaster is better acquainted With the situation he 1 ends and none have been more prompt in executing them both with fidelity and accuracy. Respectfully, Jkc. KOBt BKENT, Pau Matter (i n ral. Paymaster General's Office, City of Washington 26 Dec. lb 16. To the Honble, Secretary of War. Department of War. 1st. January 18i7. SIR, Your letter of the 16th of October was duly received, and referred to the Paymaster General, who has furnished the enclosed statement to tins department The reasons assigned by yon for the delay which took place in the disbursement of the seventy thousand dollars remitted to vou in February and March, 1 8 1 6 are entirely satisfactory and had the Secretary of War been advised of those reasons, he unquestionably would i i . r - i . . iravc avjrucu ui y uui eoiiuuci, 111 relation to that transaction. I have the honor to be, With sentiments ef great respect, Your obcc'.t. Servant GEO. GRAHAM. Maj. A Whitlock, Dist Paymaster Vincennes Indiana. J C. K 1 LE k & Co. " WATCH CLOCK MAKERS, SILV E R 5 .1 THS 3 JE 1 1 L L E P S II ESPEC'J FULLY informs their friends, and the public in general, that they have commenced the above business in all its various branches, in he house lately occupied by Messrs Hale Sc Wood, and nearly opposite Harlow Sc Trimble's store w here they hope by their unremitted attention to business, to merit the approbation of the public. Vincennes, January I, 18 17. X. B. Watch s k Cloc ks, of every description carefully repaired, and warranted to perform Ti e highest price given f- r ole Gold and i ver ICT An apprentice, will be taken of good moral habits, to learn the above. A Gig FOR hah. " WILL be sold on the 7t Jure next r.t public sale, if not previously sold at private sale an Excellent f ikr ot the t ivein door of H Lasselle, at 3 o'clock s credit of 3 months w ill be given bv trivinj? bond tnd security J. BRUNER. May 3, 1817. 25 3twjeJ